Current Location: Fort Toulouse Campground, Wetumpka, Alabama

Back to work for Malcolm today. Val did laundry. Malcolm got the oil changed in the truck. Another basic day. Plans for dinner were to grill out some hamburger that’s been thawing for a while. It may not get a chance, now.

We had pop-up thundershowers off and on this afternoon, but when Malcolm was heading home after work, he turned north on US 231 and the sky was black. The wind was blowing. The rain was falling. Lightning was everywhere. We decided to drive to Montgomery and use a coupon for Olive Garden.

It wasn’t too bad when we started out, but here’s what radar was showing.

Storm front.

Once under way, we got about 3 or 4 miles and it started to hail. We ducked into a gas station and stopped under their canopy until the worst blew over. Here is a picture Val took. The hail was between pea and marble size.

Hailing at the gas station.

Back out on the road and we got about 1/2 mile and the hail started up again, this time much more severe. The best we could do was stop in a furniture store parking lot and wait it out. No cover, but the hail wasn’t big enough to dent the truck or break windows. It did come down fast and furious for a while, though. Here’s some pictures from the second stop.

View out the front window.

Random hail ball from the front of the truck right after it stopped. Most of it was this size or smaller.

The furniture store employees were smart and covered their vehicles.

After some of the rain had melted the hail. Back cover of the pickup.

After that, the storms moved on through and now it is just raining. Still hear a rumble of thunder now and then. Looks like we’ll have cool weather for several days now.